I've shared some of my other eggplant recipes in previous posts, but this Eggplant with Pumpkin & Feta recipe has to be my all time favourite. It is a perfect to serve as a vegetarian dish: it has the softness of the eggplant and pumpkin contrasting with the crunch of the hazelnuts, and the spiciness of the cumin, coriander and garlic contrasting with the saltiness of the feta.
4 medium eggplants, halved
Coarse cooking salt
1/4 cup olive oil
200g pumpkin, finely chopped
1 small onion, … [Read more...]

Eggplant and tomato pasta sauce is a deliciously different recipe to try if you are fortunate to have a good supply of eggplants from your garden (or from the markets).
1.5kg tomatoes
2 eggplants (or aubergine)
2 onions, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch dried chilli (this is worth adding to give the recipe a lift even if you are not a big chilli fan)
Olive Oil
3 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
Splash of wine (whatever you have, optional)
Pasta
Cut a cross in the … [Read more...]

This eggplant curry recipe is perfect for a simple late summer or autumn meal, and you can add whatever other vegetables you have in your garden at the time. In an earlier post I talked about how I hadn't had much luck growing eggplant but then realised that they really needed lots of summer heat so were not likely to produce their crop until well into the autumn in my garden. It is such a treat when they finally do produce a harvest and I'm always looking for new ways to use them.
2 … [Read more...]

If you are lucky enough to have a good crop of eggplant growing in your garden, then these crispy eggplant sliders make a great simple but tasty meat-free meal.
Eggplant (or aubergine), sliced into 1cm rounds
1-2 eggs depending on how many sliders or burgers you are making
Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
Panko breadcrumbs (you can use ordinary breadcrumbs but these make the eggplant deliciously crispy)
Olive oil
Wholemeal seeded bread rolls, … [Read more...]

I have just harvested my first eggplant from the garden so my thoughts are turning to Baba Ghanoush recipes and all the other delicious things I can make using eggplant. I was quite surprised to have an eggplant so early as it hasn't been a good summer and in previous years it has been well into autumn before the harvest began - see my earlier post on growing eggplant or aubergine.
Baba Ghanoush (or eggplant dip) is a popular appetiser throughout the Middle East. Over the next few posts I … [Read more...]

I hadn't had much luck growing eggplant previously. It seemed a bit of a lottery as to whether I'd get any eggplants at all: some years I'd get a few and other years none at all. There would nearly always be flowers but few or no fruit. A few years back when I was clearing out the remains of my summer vegetables, I was about to pull the eggplants out in disgust (again) when I noticed that there were some little fruit setting. I left the plants there and was rewarded with quite a good crop of … [Read more...]

Traditional Ratatouille is a famous French vegetable stew made in autumn when the main ingredients (eggplant, zucchini/courgette, capsicum, tomatoes) are plentiful. Purists would make it exactly to the traditional recipe but there are many variations now that people call ratatouille, even versions baked in the oven rather than as a stew. I like to stay true to the original vegetable stew concept but add whatever vegetables I happen to have, such as green beans. Some recipes sauté the … [Read more...]

This salad is perfect for late summer when capsicums, eggplant and courgette (or zucchini) are plentiful in the garden. You can roast them in the oven but I prefer to grill or barbeque them to get those lovely golden brown lines across them. Once cooked you can drizzle them with balsamic vinegar and add sundried tomatoes, olives and feta to make a meal of them or serve them as a vegetable dish. They are delicious piping hot or served at room temperature.
… [Read more...]

Life’s Bounty is about all the things I enjoy experiencing, creating, and sharing. Join me as I travel in search of new experiences; coax more produce from my backyard in Auckland, New Zealand and preserve the harvested bounty; and try my hand at making anything from cider to jewellery to cards to gift packs of soap.